It is well known that communication range, often termed active space, varies with habitat structure, and this variation can influence individual vocal behavior across taxa. While theoretical predictions imply that communication distances can drive the evolution of mammalian alliance sizes, empirical tests of this hypothesis are currently lacking. In Shark Bay, Western Australia, unrelated male bottlenose dolphins form multilevel alliances, where males work together in pairs or trios to herd single estrus females.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarbonate sediments are often regarded as problematic in geotechnical engineering due to the high variability of their properties. Understanding and quantifying this variability will become increasingly critical in the years ahead, notably with respect to upcoming developments in offshore renewable energy, for which limited in-situ data are typically available to characterise large areas. Here, six intervals from the North West Shelf of Australia, each composed of similar carbonate grains but accumulated in different environments, are investigated to better understand how the post-depositional cementation, alteration and dissolution of sediments, known as diagenesis, impact their geotechnical properties.
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